The present invention relates to a chip conveyer for conveying chips having cutting oil generated during machining operation of a machine tool such as a lathe from a receiving position to a discharge position, and in particular, the present invention relates to a collapsible chip conveyer.
As a conventional collapsible chip conveyer, there has been proposed a technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. Sho 63-13639. In this chip conveyer, a conveyer frame includes a horizontal frame member and an inclined frame member. The frame members are coupled to each other at a connection portion by a hinge mechanism. The hinge mechanism permits the inclined frame member to pivot relative to the horizontal frame member. At the time of installation or maintenance/checkup of the chip conveyer, the inclined frame member is pivoted.
The hinge mechanism mutually stacks a right plate and a left plate of the horizontal frame member and a left plate and a right plate of the inclined frame member and connect them such that they can be rotated around a common rotation center axis, which is arranged at a midpoint between the forwarding side (forwarding portion) and the returning side (return portion) of an endless conveying member.
However, in the conventional collapsible chip conveyer, the horizontal frame member and the inclined frame member are connected in a partially overlapping state, and hence, the horizontal frame member and the inclined frame member should have different width values, respectively. This complicates a manufacturing process, and increases a material cost because the width of one frame increases.
Moreover, in the conventional chip conveyer, in order to allow the inclined frame member to pivot, chip guides located at the right and left upper ends of the horizontal frame member and guide rails for guiding the conveying member are partially removed to form a gap. The inner structure of the conveyer is exposed at the gap. This deteriorates the appearance and disturbs smooth rotation of the conveying member due to the discontinuation of the guide rails. Especially when designing a chip conveyer that permits the inclined frame member to be collapsed in a substantially parallel state with respect to the horizontal frame member, relatively great parts of the guide and the guide rails need be removed, which forms a relatively wide gap and makes the aforementioned problems remarkable.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a collapsible chip conveyer having an improved appearance that is easily collapsed, packed, carried, inspected, installed, and produced at a low cost.
To achieve the foregoing and other objectives and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, a collapsible chip conveyer having a frame, a guide rail, and an endless conveying member is provided. The conveying member has a forwarding portion and a return portion and travels along the guide rail in the frame. The conveying member receives chips discharged from a machining tool at a receiving position set on the forwarding portion, conveys the chips to a discharge position, and then discharges the chips from the discharge position. The conveyer includes a plurality of separation portions, a hinge mechanism, and a cover. Each of the separation portions includes a part of the guide rail and a part of the frame. The hinge mechanism has a rotation axis, which is located between the forwarding portion and the return portion of the conveying member. The hinge mechanism couples two separation portions such that the coupled separation portions pivot about the rotation axis between a collapsed position and an opened position. The cover is detachably mounted on the frame. When the coupled separation portions are located at the opened position, the coupled separation portions contact each other at one of the forwarding portion and the return portion of the conveying member while forming a gap at the other portion, and the cover covers the gap. When the coupled separation portions are located at the collapsed position, the cover is detached from the frame.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.